JEFF STRYKER: I ALMOST DIDN’T MAKE IT IN GAY PORN!

Of all the interviews we shot for our documentary on Falcon Studios’ Chuck Holmes, none was more surprising than our interview with Jeff Stryker. Arguably the biggest star in the history of gay porn, Stryker was originally rejected by Holmes who didn’t see the potential in the then-mulleted newcomer.

We caught up with Stryker, poolside at his hilltop home in the San Fernando Valley — and he was every bit as handsome as I’d remembered. Jeff Stryker explained that getting into the industry wasn’t the cakewalk you might have expected for a star of his, uh, stature. Pics, and a few highlights from the interview, after the jump.

The birth of the legend very nearly wasn’t. According to Stryker:

I was applying for regular modeling, you know, legitimate I thought out of Springfield, Illinois. And the photographer had taken pictures of me, and then called me back later and said I would like to take more pictures of you. I think it could work. So he put me in these biking shorts, and when he did that, I guess all is discovered. And he sent pictures up here to John Travis who was working for Falcon. …

In the beginning, [Chuck] was partially involved the funding of flying me out but then he backed out. Me and John Travis and him, we went and picked him up. We had lunch and then we took him to Burbank airport to fly to San Francisco.

I had hair parted in the middle and he just did not think I would become anything, which it is a big joke. He was like no, I don´t think he is going to become the big star you guys think he is going to. And Catalina got into like a bidding war and then Chuck wasn´t into that at all.

But I flew out here and Catalina had decided all right, we will invest in this guy, into making him a star. And that is when John Travis jumped boat from Falcon and went with Catalina. Chuck kicked himself in the ass forever.

According to Travis, Chuck’s response was a bit more colorful — When asked if he’d put Stryker in a movie, Chuck reportedly responded “I wouldn’t put him in a doghouse!” (Later, Chuck owned up to his mistake and helped Stryker distribute his movies.) So Travis left Falcon and went to Catalina where he groomed Stryker — fixed his teeth, cut his hair, worked him out — until the body matched his amazing cock. Still, Stryker almost wasn’t the big star he turned out to be. His initial shoot with Catalina turned out to be near disaster:

I got to the set and here I was a young guy from the Midwest. And I just said “I cannot do it. I cannot do it.” And they said we will double the money. And I am like “I can do it. I can do it.’

So then I got there. Then, we got down to [the sex and I said] — “Wow, oh god, I cannot do it.” [And Catalina said again] “We will double it.” — “I can do it! I can do it!”

But according to Stryker, he still had trouble. Even with the double-double, he couldn’t do it. So they called in a pinch hitter.

[In] my first three movies … the close-ups weren´t my dick. They used a thing called a stunt dick … They said — and this was John Travis — “We will just use your face and your body, and it won’t be your dick.” I am like “People will think it is my dick, won’t they?” “Yeah, of course they will.” But that is how it worked. … Here I was being made a porn star and I wasn’t doing porn. I couldn’t. Couldn’t function. Three movies later, I got where I could.

Stryker says that he was almost released from his contract after his first shoot because it went so poorly. It wasn’t until reaction came back from a magazine layout that Travis and Catalina decided they couldn’t live without him. And the rest is history.

So the bad news? If you’ve been jerking off to Stryker classics like Bigger than Life or In Hot Pursuit, you were getting off to someone else’s big number. At least when it’s in action. (For those of us who wore out the VCR with Jeff’s voice alone, it doesn’t really matter.) The good news is, however, is that in real life Jeff is still hung like a Texas mule — and just as handsome and charming as he’s ever been.

Luke March 25th, 2013 at 3:59 PM

Great stuff
Stryker is the platinum standard for gay porn. There was no viagra back then. It was tough for him no doubt but just incredible. I remember being 19 and watching Jeff Stryker fuck guys. I was blown away that anyone could be that HOT, that HUNG, that beautiful ,and that FOUL mouthed. He is a legend!

Jett Blakk March 26th, 2013 at 5:51 AM

Casey March 26th, 2013 at 8:16 AM

So excited about this! Though I imagine it will go a long way to de-mystifying the 80s porn legends many know and love…fine by me! I always found the stunt dicking in films of the era a con job. Don’t believe Steve Hammond ever did any genuine hardcore fucking did he? Both his dick and ass were stunted in everything!

Hugh March 26th, 2013 at 9:51 AM

THANK YOU FOR THIS! Can you do a post on David Ashfield? He was probably the most prolific stunt dicks during that time, and it always irked me how the G4P guys he stunted for became legends and he never got his due.

ilovedisco March 26th, 2013 at 4:05 PM

Mark F. March 28th, 2013 at 11:13 AM

I’m the sure this documentary will be interesting, but I actually find it depressing that Mr. Stryker became a big star. Sure, he was a goodlooking guy with a big cock and some acting ability, but it was more than obvious there was never any real chemistry between him and his screen partners, and the “stunt dicking” was obvious and absurd. He was just a guy in the business to make a few bucks. There was no real sensuality in his scenes, never any kissing, just Jeff getting his dick sucked, talking dirty and pretending to fuck. It was profoundly depressing when I viewed the scenes back then and its even more depressing when I view them again 25 years later.

Brian November 6th, 2015 at 5:12 PM

John March 28th, 2013 at 10:46 PM

Jeff was one of the first porn guys I watched on my VCR/BETA back in the early to mid 80s. I know he wasn’t considered a glamour guy,was a fair actor as far as acting is concerned. However, he could fuck and knew how to show off his body when he was fucking. As far as being vocal, just listening to him curse out his partners, berating them, slapping his partner’s asses. I have one of Jeff’s older video with Jeff Converse, Ricky Turner, Kevin Wiles, Tony Bravo and just by listening to his voice and his filthy talking gets me a boner every time. I read an interview with Geno Colbert several years and he stated he received some serious injury to his bottom after being fucked by Jeff. I was so stucked on Jeff and his dick that I bought a molded version of Jeff’s dick.

Jackson April 26th, 2013 at 3:47 PM

Is this another pathetic excuse for him to distance himself from all the gay porn he did, all the guys he fucked, and how much he fucking loved it? Re-check the early scenes. Only his scene with Mike Henson appears sketchy, which would’ve been one of his very first on camera gay scenes. If that wasn’t his one-of-a-kind dick plowing Jeff Quinn, Tony Bravo, Adam West, Jeff Converse, Adam Grant, Ricky Turner, Kevin Wiles, Steve Hammond, and those guys in The Switch Is On, I’d like to know what other model had a dick like that. Give me a break. He got over his nervousness real fast and loved every thrust into whatever shithole he plunged. Besides in his early interviews, he talks about fucking plenty of guys while at military academy and back at home in Illinois. Maybe because he is now the divorced father of four kids (yes, he’s got four), he’s trying to downplay his porn legacy, which is mostly gay. More mixed and ass backwards than ever–pun intended. Plus, I bet that fucking house in the photos is rented. He’s far from affluent. Still, I’m a fan.

[…] — In Hot Pursuit, Bigger Than Life and Powertool — were made with a stunt dick. It’s not the first time Stryker has made the claim, but it’s the first time he’s named a name: 80s Falcon star David Ashfield. Let’s […]